Many NZ Businesses Not Confident About Cyber Risks

Many NZ Businesses Not Confident in Understanding Or
Managing Cyber Risks Including Their Supplier
Exposures

Auckland, 20 March, 2018 – Cyber risk is high
on the agenda for many New Zealand businesses however few
are highly confident in understanding or responding to a
cyber incident nor comprehend the risks their suppliers
pose, according to a new global survey conducted by Marsh, a
global leader in insurance broking and innovative risk
management solutions, and Microsoft Corp., the leading
platform and productivity company for the mobile-first,
cloud-first world.

Whilst 60% of the survey’s New
Zealand respondents said that cyber incidents were in their
top five risks, only 22% said they were highly confident in
managing, responding and recovering from a cyber incident
and 35% in understanding and assessing their cyber
risks.

What’s more, 43% of respondents did not assess
the cyber risks of their vendors or suppliers and 20% did
not know if they were even exposed to any risks from their
supply chain.

The findings were discussed at a Marsh cyber
risk breakfast in Auckland this morning. Marsh Head of
Specialities Fred Boles said, “Cyber risk is a topic that
has been talked about for some time given our increasing
dependence on technology. It is therefore surprising that
many organisations are still unaware what their cyber risks
are including the risks that suppliers pose.”

In regards
to the scenarios that would create the greatest impact to NZ
organisations, 80% of those surveyed said business
interruption and 75% said reputational damage. In relation
to cyber attacks that deliver destructive malware, people
were most concerned about financially motivated threats,
such as organised crime, and human error, such as the loss
of an employee mobile device.

The costs of such incidents
can be huge. In fact, the World Economic Forum estimates the
economic loss of cyber incidents is between US$1.5 and four
trillion a year.

Only 33% of respondents in NZ had
developed a cyber incident response plan in the last 12 to
24 months. Of those who didn’t have a plan in place, 32%
were unsure as to why this was the case.

“As with any
major business risks, preparedness is the key to managing
them”, said Mr Boles.

Organisations can more effectively
manage cyber risk by applying a holistic, comprehensive
approach that emphasises proven security practices, such as
updating systems regularly, along with other preventative
measures including planning that engages key
stakeholders.”

The Global Cyber Risk Perception Survey
had more than 1,300 executive responses coming from 26
industries.

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